


Wishes and Songs

by Dragonsigma



Category: The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 11:32:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5664571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonsigma/pseuds/Dragonsigma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When spring storms keep Ino and Mireän from playing in the gardens, Maia arranges for them to see a children’s opera.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wishes and Songs

The spring rains have been unusually heavy this season, rendering the gardens of the Untheileneise Court a wet, muddy mess. This is nothing compared to the destruction that sweeps through several northern villages as the rush of snowmelt into the rivers causes historic floods, killing several and leaving many more homeless. For several days, much of the Emperor’s time is spent in organizing aid to be delivered to these regions, despite the Corazhas’s arguments that nobody particularly important lives there, and perhaps the money would be better spent elsewhere.   

The weather’s effect on the Imperial household is less dramatic, though to certain young ladies it is yet of gravest concern. The Alcethmeret’s nursery is well-provisioned, true, but the young Archduchesses have dreamed of flowers and games outdoors for weeks, and are not at all happy at the confinement the storms have brought upon them.    

After several weeks of disappointment, the Emperor takes it upon himself to brighten their day. He arranges for the girls to see a performance of _The Princess’s Necklace,_ a michen-opera that has recently become popular with the children of Cetho.  

Little Ino and Mireän are delighted, and spend an afternoon in glorious anticipation, acting out scenes of their own creation for the benefit of their elder brother and nursemaid. Suler watches her charges with affection clear on her face, and tells them of the make-believe worlds she and her sisters played in as girls. Idra feigns disinterest, though he looks back on his sisters with a smile when he leaves the nursery for his daily lessons with Leilis Athmaza, happy to see them so carefree and joyous after all that has happened in the past half-year.   

Shortly after Idra leaves, a servant appears at the door and asks if the Archduchesses wouldn't like to come see the stage put up, and meet the actors, several of whom are of an age with them.  

The girls accept the offer with great enthusiasm, and the time before the performance is spent in watching the stagehands prepare the great clockwork puppets of colorful foreign birds and talking with the young singers about the cities they have travelled to and performed in. They very quickly have acquired a new friend, a girl named Tiro who has been in three other operas and has seemingly endless thrilling stories to tell. Ino gasps audibly at one tale about a malfunctioning crane that left a haughty actress stranded at the top of a rapidly-crumbling tower, and she insists that the company make certain their equipment is safe for tonight’s performance.  

And then it is time for the show to begin. Ino and Mireän sit to watch, their smiles only growing every time they spot Tiro on stage 

The opera tells the story of a long-ago princess in a distant land. Her older brother is away fighting a war, her parents have little time for her, and her beloved nursemaid is about to be sent away. On the morning of her departure, the nursemaid gives the princess a magic necklace which will grant her three wishes. The princess uses the first two wishes on grand adventures through exotic realms, and then the third to summon her brother home from the battlefield and reunite her family. 

The girls adore the show, though at the end Mireän has to be reassured that the brother will not have to return to the war.  

When they finally bid farewell to their new friend and agree to be led back to the nursery, they’re still trying to decide what they would wish for if they were to be given the magic necklace.  

(“Flowers and cakes!” Ino suggests, clasping her hands together in longing. “A kitten! And a sword, like the Empress!” Mireän returns. “A bird like the one that returned the necklace when the monster stole it!” “A boat like the one the Princess sailed across the river!”)

Neither of them will say what they truly want- their mother and father back. It is easier to dwell on wishes of sweets and games and fantastical adventures. 

Three days later, the rains clear up and the gardens burst into bloom. This, at least, is one wish that can be granted. 

**Author's Note:**

> You have no idea how happy I am to find that one of my favorite books has fanfiction.
> 
> Join the tiny fandom discussion and RP at http://www.slashnet.org/webclient/thegoblinemperor


End file.
